Spies Makes The Perfect Start At Indianapolis

Ben Spies began his quest for a home victory in perfect style with the fastest time in first practice for the Indianapolis Grand Prix. The MotoGP weekend began in unusual fashion with a dirty track surface leading to some strange results, with a number of big names struggling early on.

Spies had no obvious difficulties though and set a 1:43.260 with just over a minute to go, edging out championship leader Casey Stoner who had taken the fastest time moments earlier. The Australian was among the leading runners that pitted just a lap into their first run, clearly feeling unhappy with the set-up of his Honda machine.

The Australian ended up just under three tenths off the pace in second with Colin Edwards producing one of the surprises of the morning to take third, a fraction of a second behind the series leader.

Marco Simoncelli topped the timesheets for much of the session as the track rubbered in. Fresh from his maiden podium two weeks ago, the Italian looked to be on top form again and virtually matched the time of Stoner and Edwards in fourth.

The two works Ducatis were next up with Nicky Hayden sneaking in front of Valentino Rossi on his final lap of the session. Although they were around a second off the ultimate pace, the Italian squad will have been pleased to have two works Hondas and a factory Yamaha behind them in the first timed session.

Hector Barbera was eighth fastest and had the rare distinction of being the top Spaniard in FP1 with Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa languishing in ninth and tenth respectively. The two men who dominated qualifying for the previous race at Brno were visibly unhappy with their respective bikes and will be hoping for much more later this afternoon.

Cal Crutchlow took a while to get going as he explored the limits of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Briton took a couple of trips through the grass on his way to 12th while Karel Abraham also had a disrupted session as his Ducati broke down on two occasions.

Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix: Free Practice 1 Result

Pos

Rider

Nat

Bike

Team

Time/Gap

1

Ben Spies

USA

Yamaha

Yamaha Factory Racing

1:43.260

2

Casey Stoner

AUS

Honda

Repsol Honda Team

+0.292

3

Colin Edwards

USA

Yamaha

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

+0.314

4

Marco Simoncelli

ITA

Honda

San Carlo Honda Gresini

+0.322

5

Nicky Hayden

USA

Ducati

Ducati Team

+0.976

6

Valentino Rossi

ITA

Ducati

Ducati Team

+1.102

7

Andrea Dovizioso

ITA

Honda

Repsol Honda Team

+1.291

8

Hector Barbera

SPA

Ducati

Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP

+1.766

9

Jorge Lorenzo

SPA

Yamaha

Yamaha Factory Racing

+1.805

10

Dani Pedrosa

SPA

Honda

Repsol Honda Team

+1.932

11

Alvaro Bautista

SPA

Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

+1.989

12

Cal Crutchlow

GBR

Yamaha

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

+2.108

13

Randy de Puniet

FRA

Ducati

Pramac Racing Team

+2.317

14

Hiroshi Aoyama

JAP

Honda

San Carlo Honda Gresini

+2.899

15

Loris Capirossi

ITA

Ducati

Pramac Racing Team

+3.224

16

Karel Abraham

CZE

Ducati

Cardion AB Motoracing

+3.383

17

Toni Elias

SPA

Honda

LCR Honda MotoGP

+4.247

Spies Makes The Perfect Start At Indianapolis was last modified: September 3rd, 2011